Expert who beat cyberattack says he's no hero

The attack stopped spreading when Mr Hutchins, helped by Mr Darien Huss from security firm Proofpoint, registered a domain name used by the malware.

Experts are still trying to figure out who's behind the global software cyber attack.

WannaCry Ransomware, this global cyber outrage has taken the world by surprise and the main target of this attack was NHS (National Health Service).

"I'm definitely not a hero", he told The Associated Press.

Marcus, who works for Los Angeles-based Kryptos Logic but is from Ilfracombe, spent the weekend fighting against the virus that meant computer systems were able to return to relative normality.

In an interview with the publication, one of the IT expert's friends said the surfer "was just doing his job" when he managed to stop the virus in its tracks.

Hutchins was analyzing a sample of the malicious malware's code when he noticed it was linked to an unregistered web address.

Just Eat said: "So, as the hero who stopped the ransomware virus, known as WannaCry, we thought it was only right to spread some cheesy love of our own and provide Marcus with his very own supply of piping hot pizza, free for a whole year from any Just Eat restaurant".

"Marcus, with the program he runs at Kryptos Logic, not only saved the United States but also prevented further damage to the rest of the world", Neino said in an interview from Venice, Italy.

Neino said the worm was "poorly designed" - patched together and a "sum of different parts" with an unsophisticated payment system. Hutchins himself is part of a global community that constantly watches for attacks and works to thwart them, often sharing information on Twitter.

Mr Hutchins has long tweeted under the handle MalwareTech, which features a profile photo of a cat with huge sunglasses.

The self-taught cybersecurity expert is now working with the United Kingdom government's National Cyber Security Centre to prevent a new strain of the malicious software from emerging, The Daily Mail reported, adding that he has no plans to leave his current job despite having been inundated with job offers.

His mother Janet, a nurse, couldn't be prouder - and was happy to have the veil of anonymity lifted. So I picked it up not knowing what it did at the time, he said.

"On Monday morning at the start of the new working week it's likely that successful attacks from Friday that haven't yet become apparent will become apparent", he said.

In order to keep the virus at bay, Hutchins said users would need to disconnect their computers from the internet before turning them on again, and then check them for the backdoor. Mr Hutchins lives with his family in this seaside town, where he works out of his bedroom on a sophisticated computer setup with three enormous screens. The concept of celebrity was clearly foreign to him.